Ex-DepEd official claims VP Sara gave out P50,000 cash envelopes

MANILA, Philippines — A former Department of Education (DepEd) undersecretary on Wednesday, September 25, said that she and other employees had received monthly envelopes containing P50,000 in cash for nine months under Vice President Sara Duterte’s tenure as DepEd secretary.

Former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil Mercado revealed this at the House good governance committee’s second inquiry on DepEd’s alleged misuse of public funds. 

In her sworn statement, Mercado said that Vice President’s head executive assistant Sunshine Fajarda had handed her one envelope for each month from February to September 2023 labeled “HoPE,” which meant Head of Procuring Entity. 

Every time, Fajarda would tell her, “Galing kay VP (It came from the vice president).” 

Mercado served as DepEd’s procurement head and human resources head at the same time in 2023. She told lawmakers that she never opened the envelopes, leaving them inside a pouch at her office. 

It was only when she left the agency for “voluntary retirement” in late October 2023 that she discovered the envelopes contained P50,000 each. 

For nine envelopes, this amounted to a total of P450,000, which she donated to a non-government organization upon the advice of others.

Mercado confirmed to lawmakers that the envelope could have been “a means to influence her decision” as the head of DepEd’s procurement.

Why did she retire? Mercado’s retirement was not planned. She was ordered to resign, but she refused. 

When DepEd’s Computerization Program almost experienced a bidding failure in October 2023, Procurement Assistant Secretary Reynold Munsayac suggested that bidders should just discuss among themselves, so that the 2022 funds will not go to waste. 

What is a bidding failure? A bidding failure occurs when the procurement process for a project is unsuccessful. This can happen if no bidders participate or if the submitted bids fail to meet the necessary criteria.

In DepEd’s case, the 2022 budget for the Computerization Program was about to lapse by the end of 2023 due to the disqualification of nearly all bidders.

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Mercado opposed